System and Method for Servers to Send Alerts to Connectionless Devices

1. A method of sending a message to a client device, comprising: retrieving, at a message router, identification information associated with a client device from client information, wherein said identification information includes a device address of said client device; determining a communication type of said client device based on a size and content of said identification information; selecting at least one protocol gateway based on said communication type; and forwarding said message to said selected at least one protocol gateway based on said communication type; wherein said message is formatted by said selected at least one protocol gateway for transmission to said client device.

2. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said client information includes at least one of a customer ID and a port number.

3. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a user table to obtain said identification information associated with said customer ID.

4. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a local cache of said message router for said identification information associated with a customer ID.

5. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a local cache of said message router and a device table for said client device associated with said identification information when both said identification information and a port number are provided.

6. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , further comprising: returning an inactive customer message to a server if no identification information is retrieved.

7. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said message is segmented with said selected at least one protocol gateway into message segments before sending said message over a network.

8. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 7 , wherein: said segmented message is assembled at said client device.

9. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said message includes at least one of an alert message, a compression flag, an encryption flag, and an acknowledgement flag.

10. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , further comprising: returning an acknowledgement to said selected at least one protocol gateway after receiving said formatted message at said client device.

11. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 10 , further comprising: forwarding said acknowledgement from said selected at least one protocol gateway to a server.

12. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said client information is a client information object.

13. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , wherein: said client information includes a customer ID and a device ID.

14. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 13 , wherein: said message includes an active device only flag; and said device ID can be set to all devices.

15. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 14 , further comprising: searching a local cache of said message router for said identification information if said active device only flag is set and said device ID is specified.

16. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , further comprising: searching a user table for said identification information if said identification information is not located in said local cache.

17. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 14 , further comprising: searching only a user table for active client devices associated with said customer ID if said active device only flag is set and said device ID is set to all devices.

18. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 14 , further comprising: searching a local cache of said message router for said identification information if said active device only flag is not set and said device ID is specified.

19. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , further comprising: searching a device table for said identification information if said identification information is not located in a local cache.

20. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 14 , further comprising: searching a device table for a client device associated with said customer ID if said active only flag is not set and said device ID is set to all devices.

21. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , further comprising: providing each identification information retrieved in said step of retrieving identification information to a server.

22. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 1 , further comprising: providing each identification information retrieved by said message router to a server, before forwarding said message to said at least one protocol gateway.

23. A method of sending a message to a client device, comprising: retrieving, at a message router, identification information from at least one of customer information and device information, wherein said identification information includes a device address of said client device; determining, at said message router, a communication type associated with said at least one of customer information and device information based on a size and content of said identification information; and forwarding said message to at least one protocol gateway associated with said determined communication type; wherein said message is transmitted with said at least one protocol gateway over a network to said client device.

24. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , further comprising: receiving said message with a transport layer of an application associated with said at least one protocol gateway; and sending said message from said transport layer to a client application.

25. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , wherein: said message is segmented into message segments with said at least one protocol gateway.

26. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 24 , wherein: said client application assembles said message segments.

27. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , wherein: an acknowledgement is sent from said client device to said at least one protocol gateway once said message is received by said client device.

28. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 27 , wherein: said acknowledgement is sent from said at least one protocol gateway to a server that forwarded said message after receiving said acknowledgement from said client device.

29. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , wherein: said message comprises at least one of an alert message, a client information object including customer ID, device ID, message flag, compression flag, and an encryption flag.

30. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 29 , wherein said messages flag specifies at least one of: whether a server requires an acknowledgement message; whether said message should be sent only when said client device is currently active; and whether said at least one protocol gateway should only attempt message delivery once.

31. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , wherein: said message includes an active device only flag and a device ID set to all devices.

32. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , wherein said retrieving step comprises: searching a local cache of said message router for said identification information when an active device only flag is set and a device ID is specified; searching only a user table for an active client device associated with a customer ID when said active device flag is set and said device ID is set to all devices; searching a local cache of said message router for said identification information when said active device only flag is not set and said device ID is specified; and searching a device table for said client device associated with said customer ID when said active device only flag is not set and said device ID is set to all devices.

33. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 32 , further comprising: for said steps of searching a local cache of said message router, searching a database for said identification information if said identification information is not found in said local cache.

34. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , further comprising: providing each of a device ID when said device ID is set to all devices.

35. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , further comprising: sending an inactive message to a server when no device is located and a device ID is set to all devices, otherwise sending a customer not valid message.

36. The method of sending a message to a client device according to claim 23 , wherein: said message is formatted for said client device with said at least one protocol gateway.